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Why I Selected EVO RAIL : I was so excited to see that vmware launched its first self-created hardware now. That was more interesting that how can vmware mix its technology in to a hardware .

What is Covered: This is a covered material from the HOL LAB and I enjoyed that lab seriously so much & would recommend you all to go ahead and see what is all there available for you and totally free.

EVO:RAIL combines VMware compute, networking, and storage resources into a hyper-converged infrastructure appliance to create an all-in-one solution offered by Qualified EVO:RAIL Partners (QEPs). Be sure to explore the new features we’ve added to the EVO:RAIL for VMware Partner Exchange 2015.

Highly Resilient by Design:Resilient appliance design starting with four independent hosts and a distributed Virtual SAN Datastore ensures zero application downtime during planned maintenance or during disk, network, or host failures.

Infrastructure at the Speed of Innovation:Meet accelerating business demands by simplifying infrastructure design with predictable sizing and scaling, by streamlining purchase and deployment with a single appliance SKU, and by reducing CapEx and OpEx.

Freedom of Choice:EVO:RAIL is delivered as a complete appliance solution with hardware, software, and support through Qualified EVO:RAIL Partners (QEPs); customers choose their preferred brand.

Deployment: Although we can’t show you deployment in this , here are the steps:

1. Configure your top-of-rack switch.

2. Rack, cable, and power-on EVO:RAIL.

3. Connect a client workstation/laptop to the top-of-rack switch and point your browser to EVO:RAIL for configuration and management.

Configuration:

· Configure and build a newly deployed EVO:RAIL appliance

Management:

· Create virtual machines and manage lifecycle operations

· Explore management features, such as system health, config, and alerts

· New: Simulate appliance discovery and scale out

· New: Update EVO:RAIL software

· New: Simulate hardware failure and node replacement

EVO:RAIL HOL Team:Mike Laverick, Judy Snow, Wit Riewrangboonya

PHYSICAL APPLIANCE EMULATION

EVO:RAIL is a physical appliance that delivers vSphere and Virtual SAN in under 15 minutes. While every attempt has been made to duplicate the EVO:RAIL experience in the , some functionality that works on the genuine physical appliance does not work as expected in the virtual HOL environment.

In the , EVO:RAIL actually builds a virtual version of the appliance. This takes about 15 minutes, just like a real appliance. Then EVO:RAIL builds a second virtual appliance in about 7 minutes, just as it would in the physical world.

NOTE: If you are using a device with a non-US keyboard layout, you might find it difficult to enter usernames and passwords in this lab. You can cut and paste these from the README.txt file on the ControlCenter desktop.

ACCESSING EVO:RAIL

EVO:RAIL is normally accessed from a browser (Firefox/Chrome/IE) on a management workstation/laptop connected to the EVO:RAIL network. In the , you will use the Chrome browser provided in the HOL ControlCenter.

1. Open the Google Chrome browser on your ControlCenter desktop.

You will see the two bookmarks we put for your use in the : one for EVO:RAIL Configuration and one for EVO:RAIL Management.

This lab walks you through the configuration and then lets you explore mangement features:

· You must configure and “build” the appliance before you can manage it.

· After building the appliance, you cannot go back to the configuration.

EVO:RAIL CONFIGURATION

EVO:RAIL Configuration is the first thing you see after physical EVO:RAIL deployment.

For this , you will be using pre-configured network addresses required for the virtual lab environment. The fields are populated with these default values to make configuration quick and easy. Although you will walk through an entire custom configuration, please don’t change networking, passwords, or global settings. You won’t break anything, but someone may have to reset your lab. You are welcome to play around with a new naming scheme for ESXi hosts. In minutes you will be creating virtual machines!

Objective: Build an EVO:RAIL appliance and become familiar with configuration capabilities.

EVO:RAIL CONFIGURATION

1. Click the toolbar shortcut, “1. EVO:RAIL Config” to point to EVO:RAIL Configuration.

2. When you see a message stating that the site’s security certificate is not trusted, click Advanced.

3. Then click Proceed to 192.168.110.22 (unsafe)

You will now see the EVO:RAIL configuration splash page.

HELLO, MY NAME IS EVO:RAIL

Click Yes, Let’s Go!

The next page displays the EVO:RAIL End-User License Agreement. To accept the license, click Yes, I do.

CUSTOMIZE ME!

Click the Customize Me! button to configure hostnames, networking, passwords, and global settings. All the fields have predefined values to make configuration quick and easy.

Configuration changes are automatically validated and saved when changing between fields or sections.

HOSTNAMES

To customize EVO:RAIL, use the Hostnames tab to define a naming scheme for your ESXi hosts. The hostname consists of anESXi hostname prefix, aSeparator, an Iterator, and a Top-level domain. The Preview field shows an example of the result of the first ESXi host, as illustrated in the screenshot.

· Enter an ESXi hostname prefix.

· Select a Separator (“None” or a dash ”-“) and the Iterator (Alpha, Num X, or Num 0X).

PASSWORDS

Click Passwords to see the predefined passwords for the ESXi hosts and vCenter Server. Please do not change the default passwords for the :VMware1!

To optionally use Active Directory for authentication, you would enter the AD domain, AD username,andAD password.

GLOBALS

Click Globals to set the time zone, logging, and any existing NTP, DNS, or Proxy servers on your network. Logging can be set to Log Insight or to an existing syslog server on your network.

External servers are not used in this Hands-On Lab, so you should not configure any of these. In a physical environment, EVO:RAIL configures each of these services for all ESXi hosts and vCenter Server.

For the , we are using 10.10.10.200 as the IP address for vCenter Server. Click the Take me to it! button.

You will see a browser message that the site’s security certificate is not trusted:

1. Click Advanced

2. Then click Proceed to 10.10.10.200 (unsafe)

You will now see the EVO:RAIL build appliance page.

NOTE: If you accidentally close the Chrome browser and need to reconnect to EVO:RAIL Management, click the toolbar shortcut, 2. EVO:RAIL Manage.

BUILD APPLIANCE

EVO:RAIL implements data services, creates the new ESXi hosts and a Virtual SAN datastore, and deploys the vCenter Server.This process will take about 15 minutes in the Hands-On Lab environment.

NOTE:This link will open in a new window while EVO:RAIL continues to build your virtual appliance. Close the window to return .

When you see Hooray!, click the IP address to continue to EVO:RAIL Management.

NOTE: Sometimes build appliance gets stuck at approximately 76% in the environment. If you see a red box that offers the option to “Try again”, do not click it. Instead, go to the ControlCenter desktop and double-click the “Restart VCSA Network” shortcut to run a special script for the HOL environment. Then go back to the EVO:RAIL browser window and click the “Try again” button. The build process resets to about 72%. If that still doesn’t work, please raise your virtual hand for further assistance.

EVO:RAIL MANAGEMENT

In EVO:RAIL you will create virtual machines with only a few clicks to select the guest operating system, VM size, network segment, and security option.

After creating some VMs, here are some of the things you can explore in EVO:RAIL Management:

· View VMs and manage lifecycle operations such as Clone or Rename.

· Optionally access vSphere Web Client

· Monitor EVO:RAIL cluster, appliance, and node health

· Explore features such as logs, licenses, localization, updates, and tasks

Objective: Create a Virtual Machine and become familiar with EVO:RAIL Management capabilities.

EVO:RAIL MANAGEMENT

After clicking away from the Hooray! page, you will see the login page for EVO:RAIL Management.

Login with username: administrator@vsphere.local, password: VMware1!

Click the Authenticatebutton.

NOTE: If you exit the browser and want to return to EVO:RAIL Management, you will have to point the browser tohttps://10.10.10.200:7443 because of the configuration specific to this . Alternatively, you can click the Chrome toolbar shortcut that has been set up for you, 2. EVO:RAIL Manage.

CREATE VM: CREATING VIRTUAL MACHINES

1. Click the Create VM icon in the left sidebar to begin the virtual machine creation process.

NOTE: The EVO:RAIL user interface is available in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. If you need to change the display language, you can click on the Config icon in the left sidebar before proceeding with the .

UPLOAD GUEST OPERATING SYSTEM

1. In the Create VM called field, enter a name for your virtual machine such as “VMworld VM 1”.

2. Then click the Upload Image button.

3. In Upload ISO, click the Choose File button.

SELECT TINYCORE-CURRENT.ISO

1. The Windows file selection pop-up will open. Go to “Desktop”.

2. Select the small guest OS (TinyCore-current.iso) that we made available to you for this exercise.

3. Click the Open button.

UPLOAD IMAGE

Click the Upload Image button. This may take a few minutes in the environment.

When it is finished, follow the instructions in the next step to set the Guest OS version.

SELECT GUEST OPERATING SYSTEM VERSION

In the Guest OS Version menu, select any operating system (such as Other OS), then click the Continue button.

CONFIGURE VM SIZE

NOTE: Depending on the size of your ControlCenter and Chrome browser windows, the green button may be cut off. You can still click the top edge of it.

CONNECT TO NETWORK SEGMENTS

Check one or more network segments (Development, Production, and/or Staging).

Then click the Select Networksbutton.

SELECT VM SECURITY POLICY

Without EVO:RAIL, customers must manually go through a long list of options to secure a Virtual Machine. EVO:RAIL streamlines this process with three pre-defined Risk Profiles to choose from at the time of VM provisioning.

These profiles are a collection of Virtual Machine Advanced Settings, based on a particular Risk Profile from the vSphere 5.5 Security Hardening Guide. (In the , you can choose any security policy that you want.)

· No Policy means that no security configuration options are applied to the VM.

· Default Policy is Risk Profile 3, which specifies guidelines that should be implemented in all environments. These are VMware best practices for all data centers.

· Basic Policy is Risk Profile 2, which specifies guidelines for more sensitive environments or small/medium/large enterprises that are subject to strict compliance rules.

· Secure Policy is Risk Profile 1, which specifies guidelines for the highest security environments, such as top-secret government or military installations, or anyone with extremely sensitive data or in a highly regulated environment.

Select one of the policies and then click Create and Start a New VM.

Wait a minute while EVO:RAIL creates and powers on your VM. You will be returned automatically to the VM dashboard.

VMS: DASHBOARD FOR YOUR VIRTUAL MACHINES

Click the VMs icon in the left sidebar and you can see your new VM.

CREATE MORE VIRTUAL MACHINES

You can create more virtual machines from the same TinyCore-current.iso.

Click the Create VM icon in the left sidebar and then click TinyCore-current.iso in “Re-use an existing ISO”.

NOTE: Don’t try to upload an iso with the same name as an iso that has already been uploaded,you will get an “unexpected failure”. If you encounter problems, refresh your browser.

Select a Guest OS version as you did before, then click the Continuebutton to finish configuring the VM. Be sure to give your new VM a new name.

EXPLORING MANAGEMENT FEATURES

EVO:RAIL Management provides the following capabilities by clicking on the icons on the left side of the management page:

EVO:RAIL Management displays a dashboard containing all virtual machines. From this page, you can manage the VMs or arrange them with sorting and filtering. The icons at the bottom of each VM allow you to perform operations to manage the virtual machine.

1. Click the VMs icon in the left sidebar.

2. Clone an existing VM by clicking the Clone button.

3. Create or clone several VMs, then view them with Filter, Sort, and/or Search.

4. If you are familiar with vSphere Web Client and you would like to use it to explore what EVO:RAIL has created, click the vSphere Web Client icon. The username isadministrator@vsphere.local and the password is VMware1!

5. In the , the VM cannot be properly installed and configured with an IP address, so the IP address is “IP Not Available”.

NOTE: In the virtual environment, there may be times when you need to refresh your browser. For example, you may notice that you can’t see all your VMs after a search or a VM appears to be off when it is on or vice versa.

MORE VM OPTIONS

Click on a VM to access all available VM options shown in the icons. Depending on the state of your VM, you may be able to perform various operations.

1. Try renaming one of your VMs.

NOTE: The virtual environment is not set up to allow the installation of an OS in the VM or access the VM through the console, so please skip “Open Console”.

· Generate a log bundle, which would be useful to attach to a service request. (Skip this in the because it tends to be a time consuming task.)

· View where you would enter your license. (You do not need a license to do the .)

· Change the language, if localization is desired.

In the upper right corner of this page, EVO:RAIL Management allows administrators to update VMware software. EVO:RAIL applies update files for vCenter, ESXi, and EVO:RAIL. With a minimum of four independent ESXi hosts in an EVO:RAIL cluster, updates are non-disruptive and require zero downtime. There will be an exercise that will take you through the update process later in this .

TASKS: VIEW SYSTEM AND USER EVENTS

Click the Tasks icon in the left sidebar.

View some of the tasks you have completed so far in this lab.

NOTE: In the s, a “Disconnected” message simply means your browser was refreshed.

EVO:RAIL AUTO DISCOVERY AND SCALE OUT

EVO:RAIL revolutionizes scale-out. Increasing compute, network, and storage resources is as easy as powering up a new appliance to join an existing EVO:RAIL cluster.

EVO:RAIL provides auto-discovery capabilities that use the RFC-recognized “Zero Network Configuration” protocol. New EVO:RAIL appliances advertise themselves on a network using the VMware “Loudmouth” service.

The first EVO:RAIL appliance in a cluster creates a new instance of vCenter Server, and additional EVO:RAIL appliances join that first instance. Thus, subsequent appliances in a cluster are built in considerably less time than the first EVO:RAIL appliance. In production environments, the first EVO:RAIL appliance is built in about 15 minutes and additional appliances are built in about 6 minutes each.

Objective: Witness EVO:RAIL auto-discovery and then add the new appliance to your existing EVO:RAIL cluster. Verify that your cluster is healthy.

EVO:RAIL SCALE OUT

POWER ON A NEW EVO:RAIL APPLIANCE

Virtually power on a new EVO:RAIL appliance in this as follows:

1. Go to the ControlCenter desktop. You may need to minimize your Chrome browser.

2. Double-click the shortcut called “Enable 2nd Appliance”. This starts a script to virtually power on a second appliance.

3. Return to EVO:RAIL Management tab in your Chrome browser. If you accidentally closed Chrome instead of minimizing, you will need to click the toolbar shortcut, “2. EVO:RAIL Manage“.

4. In a couple of minutes, you will see that a new EVO:RAIL appliance was detected. Look for a box in the bottom right-hand corner of the page with “New EVO:RAIL Appliance Detected”. Watch as each node is detected.

5. Go to the ControlCenter desktop.

6. In the window running the script, press [ENTER] when the script finishes.

7. Return to EVO:RAIL Management tab in your Chrome browser.

ADD EVO:RAIL APPLIANCE

Click the Add EVO:RAIL Appliance button.

NETWORK IP POOLS FOR THE NEW APPLIANCE

The Networking Pools section shows the IP pools that were reserved for ESXi, vMotion and Virtual SAN during the configuration of the first EVO:RAIL appliance. In general, we recommend allocating 16 IP addresses for each pool to make adding new appliances really simple. On the right side of the page, you can see that EVO:RAIL validates that you have enough IP addresses for the new appliance; otherwise, you would need to add them on this page. Also, note that the new EVO:RAIL appliance tag, “MAR45678904”, is displayed in the upper right corner.

1. All you have to enter is thePasswordsfor the existing ESXi hosts and vCenter Server. Both passwords should be VMware1!

2. Be sure to leave the password fields (tab or click out).

3. Click the Add EVO:RAIL Appliancebutton.

Note: Building a second appliance should take about 6 minutes. EVO:RAIL automatically configures the four new ESXi hosts contained in the new appliance.

If you forget to enter the passwords, refresh your browser and try again.

I’M DONE!

Once the new EVO:RAIL Appliance has been added, click the I’m Done button to return to EVO:RAIL Management.

Now we can check the status of the new appliance in both EVO:RAIL Management and vSphere Web Client.

CHECKING STATUS WITH EVO:RAIL MANAGEMENT

1. Click the Health icon in the left sidebar. Confirm that the Overall Health is Healthy.

2. Then click the first appliance, MAR12345604. Confirm that its status is Healthy.

3. Then click the second appliance, MAR45678904. Confirm that its status is Healthy.

NOTE:If you do not see the second appliance or your cluster shows “unheathy”, refresh your browser.

VSPHERE WEB CLIENT

Using the vSphere Web Client, we can more closely investigate the status and configuration of the Virtual SAN datastore:

1. Click the Home tab in the center section, then click Hosts & Clusters.

2. Expand MARVIN-Datacenter and expand MARVIN-Virtual-SAN-Cluster. This shows that you now have eight ESXi hosts.

3. With the MARVIN-Virtual-SAN-Clusterselected, click the Manage tab in the center section.

4. Under Virtual SAN, select General.

5. Under Resources, confirm that all 8 hosts, SSD and Data disks are shown and eligible, and that the network status is “Normal”.

EVO:RAIL SOFTWARE UPDATES

The EVO:RAIL update feature was specifically developed for easy, non-disruptive software updates for the EVO:RAIL engine, the vCenter Server, and ESXi hosts. All updates are tested and approved for EVO:RAIL before your QEP distributes them. This process guarantees consistency and reliability – providing VMware customers with a single access point for support.

Objective: See how easy it is to update the EVO:RAIL software engine.

EVO:RAIL UPDATES

Return to EVO:RAIL Management in your Chrome Browser by clicking either the VMware EVO:RAIL tab or the EVO:RAIL Managebookmark.

This lab only updates the EVO:RAIL software engine. Due to time restrictions in the , it is not possible to demonstrate vCenter Server and ESXi updates.

CHECK CURRENT EVO:RAIL SOFTWARE VERSION NUMBER

1. From EVO:RAIL Management, click the Config icon in the left sidebar.

2. In the About area, note the EVO:RAIL software version number; in this screenshot, it is VMware EVO:RAIL 1.0.0-2139122

UPLOAD AND CHECK EVO:RAIL FILES

In the upper right corner, there is an Offline Updatesbox. You will need to upload two files separately for the EVO:RAIL engine.

1. In the Offline Updatesbox, click the Upload link.

2. On the ControlCenter desktop, open the Update folder.

3. Select the first update file with a .zip extension, and click Open.The file is uploaded to the Virtual SAN datastore.

4. When the upload is complete, click the Upload link again.

5. Select the second update file with a .rpm extension, and click Open.The file is uploaded to the Virtual SAN datastore.

6. Once both files are uploaded, click the Check now link.

IMPORTANT: If EVO:RAIL Management does not appear to upload the file, refresh the browser.

APPLY EVO:RAIL UPDATE

If the EVO:RAIL check succeeds, the Offline Updates box changes to allow you to perform the update(s).

1. Move the Offline Updates switch from No to Yes.

2. Click the Update button.

The EVO:RAIL engine updates are applied.

CHECK NEW EVO:RAIL SOFTWARE VERSION NUMBER

1. In few minutes, you will be disconnected from EVO:RAIL.

2. After EVO:RAIL restarts, you will be prompted to log back in

3. Then click the Config icon in the left sidebar.

4. In the About area, confirm that the EVO:RAIL software version number has increased. In this screenshot, the new version isVMware EVO:RAIL 1.0.0-2199407

EVO:RAIL NODE REPLACEMENT

EVO:RAIL handles hardware failures easily. A single node can be replaced in the field without disruption to your work load.

In the event of node failure, your Qualified EVO:RAIL Partner (QEP) will ship a replacement node with a unique identity stamped in the BIOS that matches that of the failed node. All you need to do is remove the failed node and a replace it with the new EVO:RAIL node.

The EVO:RAIL engine detects the new node and alerts the operator to “re-add” it. EVO:RAIL cleans up the old ESXi host and configures a new ESXi host on the replacement node with all previous parameters.

Objective: Emulate a failed node and enable a replacement node to experience the “Re-add Existing Node” workflow. In this lab you will emulate a failure by shutting down esxi-node08.vmworld.local. You will then use the HOL “console” access to power on the replacement node, as if a new physical node had been sent to you. The EVO:RAIL Management UI lets you re-add the node.

REPLACING A FAILED EVO:RAIL NODE

To emulate the failure of an EVO:RAIL node in this , you will merely shut down an ESXi host in the vSphere Web Client and see the corresponding alert in EVO:RAIL.

In the real world, when you see an alert, you would investigate further to validate that you have a hardware failure. Then you would contact your Qualified EVO:RAIL Partner (QEP), under the terms and conditions of your Service and Support agreement, to request a replacement node.

Return to the vSphere Web Client by clicking the vSphere Web Client tab in your Chrome browser or by clicking the vSphere Web Client icon on the EVO:RAIL Management home page.

NOTE: This part of the HOL lab is experimental even though the feature itself works on all physical EVO:RAIL appliances. Because of the emulation of physical node replacement that we did for the , some users may experience an unrecoverable error in Re-add Node.

EMULATING A HARDWARE FAILURE

To emulate the failure of an EVO:RAIL node, shut down an ESXi host in the vSphere Web Client. This triggers alerts in EVO:RAIL and the vCenter Web Client.

If you still have the vSphere Web Client tab open from previous exercises, you may be able to skip these 5 steps:

For this exercise, you will need to select the eighth ESXi host in theMARVIN-Virtual-SAN-Cluster. If you used the default host naming scheme when you configured the first appliance, the name will be esxi-node08.vmworld.local.

1. Select the eighth ESXi host.

2. Right-click to select Shut Down.

3. Click OK.

After waiting a minute or two the ESXi host will be powered off. You will see a red alert next to the selected ESXi host, confirming the failure in vSphere Web Client.

NOTE: There may be delays before alerts appear. Any time you want to see a more frequent update, just refresh the vSphere Web Client.

CONFIRM THE FAILURE IN EVO:RAIL

1. Return to the EVO:RAIL Management tab in your browser. You may need to refresh your browser.

2. Click the Health icon in the left sidebar. You should see that the Overall Health is “Critical“.

3. Click the second appliance, MAR45678904.

4. Verify that the node (in this example, esx-node08.vmworld.local) has a red Xicon indicating a problem.

All other nodes in the EVO:RAIL cluster will be marked with a “Warning” because EVO:RAIL fault tolerance policy is failure of one full node.

NOTE: There may be delays before warning marks appear. Any time you want to see a more frequent update, just refresh your browser page.

ENABLE THE REPLACEMENT NODE

Each EVO:RAIL appliance has unique ID, and each node within the appliance has a unique number. The QEP will dispatch a replacement node with the exact same identity as the failed node. The failed node is removed and replaced, and the new node is powered on. Because it has the same identity as the original node, EVO:RAIL recognizes the new node and adds it back into the appliance. EVO:RAIL reconfigures the ESXi host on the new node with the original configuration (Networking, Password, Global Settings).

In this lab you will need a new console window to power on a replacement EVO:RAIL Node.

1. On the left-hand side of the HOL interface you will see shortcut area labelled “Consoles”

2. When you click this icon, you will see an icon called “ESX-08A-REPLACEMENT“. Click this icon.

3. In the central pane, click the Power On icon to bring the replacement node online.Please wait for the ESXi host to complete the boot process.

FULLY BOOTED ESXI HOST

1. When ESXi finishes booting, the Direct Console UI (DCUI) display (shown in the screenshot) will display the IP address.

2. Go back to the Control Center by clicking the CONTROLCENTER icon on the left-hand side of the HOL interface.

3. You can close the Consoles tab by clicking the ‘X’ in the top left corne

RE-ADD THE NODE

1. Return to EVO:RAIL Management in your Chrome browser.

2. You will soon see that a new node was detected: look for a box in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This part of the HOL lab is experimental even though the feature itself works on all physical EVO:RAIL appliances. Because this is an emulation of physical node replacement, some users may experience an unrecoverable error in Re-add Node. If you are one of the unlucky users, the failure message will be a host exception related to invalid credentials. Since trying again won’t work, you can cancel and conclude the .

CONFIRM THE HARDWARE PROBLEM WAS RESOLVED

If the emulated Re-add Existing Node process is successful, EVO:RAIL status returns to normal. If you see a red message, “Exception running on some hosts”, you will not be able to complete this final lab step. (Since this process is emulated, failure occurs only in the , not on a physical appliance.)

1. Click the Health icon in the left sidebar. You should see that the Overall Health is “Healthy“.

2. Click the second appliance, MAR45678904.

3. Verify that the node (in this example, esx-node08.vmworld.local) has a green checkmark indicating that it is healthy.

NOTE: If there is a delay before the warning marks disappear, just refresh your browser page.

CONCLUSION

In this , you built an EVO:RAIL Appliance from scratch, created virtual machines, and explored EVO:RAIL’s management capabilities. You added a second appliance to the existing cluster to show how EVO:RAIL delivers a simple model for auto-discovery and scale-out. You used the EVO:RAIL update functionality for the EVO:RAIL software engine. You emulated the appearance of a failed EVO:RAIL node to experience the process of virtually replacing a node in an EVO:RAIL appliance.